6 inch chimney

[Trail]

I have been reading many posts lately and I see this forum has a lot of good advice, thanks.

I am looking at buying a new VC encore non cat or Defiant cat and was concerned about chimney size.

I have been told I would need to run a 6 inch liner down the existing 8 inch to install a wood stove.

Currently I have a Superior insert fireplace. I will likely have to take this out or hack it up to get the horizontal pipe to feed in at the right height.

The main advice I am looking for is whether either of these stoves operates properly, such as smoke in the house and so on, with the 6 inch liner.
I am not really interested in burning with the door open.

Choosing the size is secondary. Even though I have a 2400 square foot house I am not really trying to heat the whole place all winter long, mainly trying to save some on nat gas bills and have the main part of the house be 75 degrees at times in winter when it is nice to be toasty. My house does have an open floor plan.
Also, I have on hand 1 and 1/3 chord of wood, how long would this last in NE ohio.

 

[jtp10181]

You have a Superior prefab ZC unit is what it sounds like. An open fireplace made out of metal? Not many wood stove are approved to vent "through" these ZC boxes. Check the manuals before you make a purchase. I think there is a hearthstone unit that is approved and recall someone saying Jotul added this to their manuals also. You will need a 6" UL 1777 approved liner "system" which normally includes a 1/2" insulation wrap. The old prefab chimney is normally rated only for 1700deg and the wood stoves or inserts require a 2100 deg rating. You also have to be sure the outer cooling chamber of the prefab pipe (if it has one) is left in tact and able to breathe, otherwise a fire in the wall may result when the pipe gets over heated.

 

[LLigetfa]

Sometimes a smaller flue can give you better draft because the flow rate is faster so the flue gasses complete the trip before they get cooled down too much. Large diameter flues can move the gasses too slow. As the gasses rise and get cooled (heavier), they loose their ability to rise.

 

[oconnor]

Are the VC Encore /Defiant 6" flues?

 

[Trail]

Are the VC Encore /Defiant 6” flues........They are 6 or 8 inch.
As usual, one thinks bigger is better, but another post says 6" could have better draft. My chimney is about 25 ft tall.

 

[jtp10181]

If you have a Superior prefab air cooled pipe you MUST run a liner down, no questions. So lets get that info first. If your existing pipe is a Class A system rated for 2100deg then you could consider using the existing flue without a liner.

 

[Trail]

I don't know how to determine the existing liner specs, but I will assume since the house was built with the Superior prefab, that it is rated for only that use.
I am going with the Encore non cat stove and at this point would like to run the liner the whole length and into the prefab for hookup with a Tee to the stove.
This is my least expensive option.

 

[jtp10181]

Yes you will need to run a full liner and also have an insulation wrap on it for it to meet UL 1777. Also make sure the outer cooling air chamber of the prefab pipe is left in tact and able to circulate. This is most easily achieved by leaving the bottom section of the old cap in place and put your top plate for liner kit on top of that. The bottom section of the cap usually has the inlets for the colling area of the prefab pipe.

 

[Trail]

Thank you, I have a couple of questions, I really don't know chimney parts, just to clarify. Do you mean air around the outside of the existing 8" pipe should have circulation?
Can you explain in more detail when you say "leave bottom section of the old cap in place and put your top plate for liner kit on top of that"

 

[jtp10181]

I still dont even know if you have a double wall air cooled chimney or not, so first you should figure that out.